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'Minnows' are small freshwater fish, but the word has long been borrowed in sport to refer to teams that have little experience in a particular competition or that are 'small' compared to the giants of a sport.
Football, and the World Cup, is no exception. Most World Cup minnows are filtered out during the qualifying stages, but enough of them slip through the net to give the people of those countries a chance to dream and neutrals who like David and Goliath stories a team to get behind during that magical summer month. Once they get to the finals, though, most are inevitably floating belly up by the end of the group stage or have been torn apart in humiliating fashion by the big fish.
For example, in Germany in 1974, Zaire lost all of their group games, with a goal difference of 0-14, including a 0-9 defeat at the hands of Yugoslavia. In the same tournament, Haiti at least managed a couple of goals, and those were against the mighty Italy and Argentina. But they also lost all of their games, including 0-7 against Poland, with a final goal difference of 2-14. In France in 1998, Saudi Arabia, who will be there this summer, managed a point from a draw with South Africa, but in the last World Cup they lost all of their games, failed to score and conceded 12 goals, eight of which against Germany.
But some minnows rise to the occasion, and even if they don't get past the initial stage, they can produce the odd upset.
In Argentina in 1978, two minnows that will be at Germany this time improved slightly on Zaire and Haiti's record four years earlier. Iran, like Haiti, scored two goals but went one better, forcing a 1-1 draw against Scotland that effectively sent the Scots home at the group stage. But it was a mere consolation for the Iranians, who accompanied Scotland to the airport with just the one point in their baggage and a goal difference of 2-8. In the same tournament, though, Tunisia came within a whisker of qualifying for the second group stage with a win, 3-1 over Mexico, and a surprise 0-0 draw with West Germany. It was the reigning champions and Poland that went through, however.
Historically, minnows tend to come from Africa, the Middle East or the Far East. In England in 1966, North Korea beat Italy 1-0 to put the European giants out at the group stage before going on to lose 3-5 in a classic quarter-final against Portugal. It is perhaps more difficult for real European minnows to get to the finals since the competition in qualifying is so stiff, but occasionally they do. Northern Ireland reached the quarter-finals in 1958, but in Spain in 1982 they were rank outsiders. They did well, though, qualifying for the second group stage at the expense of Yugoslavia and after beating hosts Spain 1-0 with a famous goal from Gerry Armstrong. In the second phase, they did not disgrace themselves, drawing 2-2 with Austria before succumbing to France, who went through to lose to West Germany on penalties in the semi-finals.
One of the truths about the World Cup is that it can be a great leveller. The United States, the main world superpower of the 20th century, have qualified seven times for the finals, but because the chief sports there are American football, baseball, basketball and ice hockey, soccer, as the Americans call it, has only in recent decades taken on relative importance. So when they have gone to the World Cup finals they have invariably been underdogs, and that was especially the case in the early years, notwithstanding their winning through to the semi-finals in the first edition in 1930. It was a massive upset, then, when the US beat England, with the likes of Wright, Finney, Mortensen and Mannion in their ranks, in Brazil in 1950, Gaetjens scoring the historic winner. The US came bottom of the group, but that famous result lives on in the record books. Currently 6th in the FIFA rankings (as at March 2006), the USA will be far from minnows this time around.
But who, then, will be the minnows? Well, perhaps there will be different levels of 'minnowdom': the countries least likely to make an impression, at least on paper, will surely be Trinidad and Tobago (51 in the FIFA rankings), Togo (59) and Angola (60), none of whom have qualified before. Neither have Ivory Coast (32) or Ghana (48), of course, but with players like Drogba and Essien in the respective squads, they may yet cause some surprises. Ukraine (41) and Serbia and Montenegro (47) are both first-timers and the European underdogs, along with Switzerland (37), although Serbia and Montenegro could be said to have a long and illustrious World Cup history because of the nation's inextricable links with the former Yugoslavia (8 presences). Ecuador (38) are the South American minnows. They appeared for the first time in 2002, and despite coming bottom of their group, they did beat Croatia 1-0. Australia (48) have appeared only once before, in 1974, where they failed to score and won only one point. Their aim will surely be to avoid embarrassment against Brazil, Croatia and Japan.
Tunisia (23) and Saudi Arabia (35), both with three presences, are in the same group (H). They will be keen to wipe out their less-than-famous record in the last World Cup where they came bottom of their respective groups. Tunisia might be said to be the second favourites (behind Spain) to qualify from this group after a good showing at this year's African Cup of Nations. But with the other country being Ukraine, we can be sure that there will be at least one minnow in the last 16.
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What other disasters or surprises involving minnows have there been in World Cups? Write and tell us.
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